``Residents of Wetherell Street have said they don't want the school,'' Emma Swetzes told the board. ``The owners do not want to sell.'' Swetzes said she and her husband would resist efforts by the town to take their property. ``We will seek redress through the courts,'' she said.

The comments of Swetzes and others who said they do not want to lose their homes moved board members.

Democratic Director David Sheridan, who voted with the majority to move forward with the plan, said the prospect of taking peoples' homes has ``haunted'' him. He recalled early in his law career representing people in Bolton and Andover who were losing their homes to make way for the Route 6 corridor.

``I have stood in the driveway of a home, hiding my face because of the tears streaming down my cheeks, as a couple closed the door for the last time on a home they had filled with a lifetime of memories,'' Sheridan told the crowd that packed the meeting room at Lincoln Center. ``In those circumstances, money compensation seems a hollow and pathetic counterbalance to all that has been lost.''

He also discounted claims by some speakers that the board was choosing the Wetherell site to spare residents near Manchester Country Club. A site near there was considered for the school. Sheridan said he would not endure the pain of putting people out of their homes ``just to avoid the myopic complaints of the `not-in-my-backyard' crowd that live in the vicinity of the country club site. If I thought that was a suitable site for a high school, I would listen to 100 years of whining from people around the country club before I would put one person out of their home.''

Deputy Mayor Josh M. Howroyd, also a Democrat, said he, too, does not relish taking property.

``If this plan moves forward, we should work to minimize the taking of property, and fairly compensate anyone who may need to relocate,'' Howroyd said. ``The future needs of our community, however, are of paramount importance.''

Sheridan took Howroyd's comment about compensation a step further, calling for the town to pay more than fair market value for the properties.

``It is incumbent upon us not only to be fair and just, but to be generous -- unhesitatingly and without any reservation,'' he said.

Spadaccini said the project cost, which is upward of $120 million at this point, is too much. At that cost, the new high school would be the most expensive the state has ever seen.

The Blue Ribbon Committee for Manchester Schools created a plan to address the school system's need for space and building improvements. The plan put forth by the school board, however, is very different from that report, Spadaccini said.

He urged town administrators to collect more information about the Wetherell site, but to also investigate options suggested by the public, including upgrading buildings and erecting a new classroom building at the high school.

``I say let's get all the facts on those and let the best plan win,'' he said.

Crockett said he decided to oppose the plan Tuesday night on his way to the meeting. He said he, too, is troubled by the Wetherell site and the difference between what the school system has put forward and the Blue Ribbon Committee's proposal.

And without solid cost figures, he said he can't approve moving forward.

Democratic Mayor Stephen T. Cassano said getting those cost estimates is one of the reasons the plan should go to the next stage. Those figures should be available in about two months and will allow the board to decide whether the plan should continue or be scaled back.

``This is a step in the process -- a critical step,'' Cassano said.

If directors approve the cost figures they get, the plan could go to voters in a November referendum. If the cost estimates are too high, the plan could be scaled back or scuttled.